rewind
by Aiko-Chan SoT
Summary: things could have been different...; -drables; alt. endings, unfinished stories-


_I've been planning this one for awhile... A whole story archive dedicated to the alternate parts, beginnings, and endings to the stories I've written, not to mention some that never made it to FF. This is really just drables, actually, but they are what could have happened in my story, whether it be plotline, the beginning, or the end._

_We're gonna begin with the alternate ending to the _To Say Goodbye _finale, _Forgiveness_. It was a long struggle to decide what to do, who to kill and who to keep. But in the end, all things evened out. I decided to go ahead and keep Tails dead simply because it added more twists to the story. Sonic went through all of that and achieved nothing at all. That and it was slightly more emotional._

_Now, remember, these are just based on what I remember, so don't expect them to be wonderful. They'll be sucky, for the most part, but some might be better. You can also critize as to which ending/beginning/story/plot idea you think should have made it all the way. _

_Have fun!_

**rewind**

**Forgiveness: Alternate Ending**

A bable of noises. He couldn't make one out from the other. They were crushed together, indistinguishable, sound all around him like the buzzing of an annoying fly. He didn't open his eyes. He couldn't open his eyes. He grimaced at the noises, the shouts and horrified screams around him. They were annoying. All he wanted to do was slip back into that sleep he had been in.

Slowly, slowly, the voices became more distinguishable, and when he could tell them apart better, his eyes slid open. It wasn't much different to having them closed, however. It was almost just as dark, and he blinked, wondering for a moment where he was and what happened. He felt no pain, only an annoying nagging at the back of his mind and the garble of voices coming from nearby. He groaned, but the sound was silent, as if there were no noise in the place he was in. His eyes narrowed in the darkness, and he could see it...Figures beginning to take shape around him. He blinked again, and the scene around him became clearer.

He was in the ruins, and the figures around him were the same as before. Miles 'Tails' Prower was beside him, shouting, tears falling from his face. Knuckles the Echinda was on his other side, cursing loudly, beating the ground with his fists. Nearby, Metal Sonic was standing still, shocked to the spot, seeing his rival finally lying dead on the ground. The ruins sprung up around them, and he blinked again, looking at nothing but Tails. _Why was he crying?_

He reached out toward his best friend, wanting him to stop, wanting to make the horrific noise stop. But his hand simply passed through the kitsune, and he jerked his arm back, staring in shock at his hand. The kitsune continued crying, shouting his name, asking why. Green eyes blinked slowly. He shouldn't be crying.

He stood from where he was lying, grimacing gently as the strange feeling of weightlessness that surrounded him. He found himself floating, and when he looked down, he gasped, feeling horror creep over him like ice freezing his veins. Below him, lying broken and bleeding on the ground...was himself. His green eyes stared at the sky, lifeless and dull. His blue fur was stained with blood, but he was smiling, even as his life was bleeding onto the grass, the rainwater that fell from the sky washing it away.

And then, it all came back.

Everything that had happened in the past three months came rushing back, from the time he watched the metal beast tear through the twin-tailed fox, right up to wear he was feeling the same quills dig into him, as he fell to the ground. He took a step away from the scene, bewildered.

He was dead...Dead...

The voices were becoming more coherent, and he listened as his name was called from the red echidna and the orange kitsune, a lamenting sound of mourning rising from their throats to him. He blinked, looking at the kitsune hard. He had _saved_ him, costing his own life in return to his... And he knew, he would do it again in a heartbeat.

He floated to the kitsune, reaching out again to futilely attempt to brush his bangs on last time, to feel the foxes fur before he could no longer see him. But alas, his fingers passed straight through Tails's hair, and he swallowed hard as tears crept into his eyes. He was gone. Alone. Dead.

"Tails..." he whispered, and this time, he heard noise, his own voice rising next to the voices of his wailing companions. "Tails...don't cry...please..." He was pleading, even though the kitsune couldn't hear him. He couldn't stand it. "Tails...I saved you...please...don't cry..." He didn't want it to be that way. The hedgehog reached out again, gripping the kitsune by the shoulder, his hand simply passing through his flesh. "Tails...Tails...Tails..._Tails!_" He screamed finally, the noise loud, rising above even the shouts around him, that were now falling into whimpers and sobs. The kitsune was on his knees now, his face nearly buried into the ground.

"Tails..." he said again, removing his hand. "I'm...I'm sorry. Tails..." He reached out for the kitsunes chest, wanting to try to feel his heart beating, to know his wasn't dreaming. Tears fell from his own eyes as his hand went through his chest. "Tails..." This time, as if hearing him, the kitsune jerked, looking around for the source of the voice. Sonic didn't move...stared straight at the kitsune, right into his blue eyes.

"Tails...I'm sorry...I'm sorry..." he whispered, and the kitunes frantic searching stopped. He now simply listening, his eyes unfocused and shining with tears. "I'm sorry...I just wanted to save you..." He sobbed silently, not taking his eyes from his best friend. "I saved you...I did it...Please, Tails...don't waste it." He paused. "I'm sorry, lil bro. I'm sorry I'm not there. But I would do it again just to save you..."

A whispered, pained and heartbroken from the kitsune. "...Why?"

He smiled sadly, tears falling from his face. "Because I love you, lil bro. I love you. And I want you to live on...for me. Just...keep breathing, lil bro. Keep fighting, even when I couldn't. Be stronger than I was. And...forgive me...Forgive me...okay...?" He sniffed loudly, and the kitsune turned his head, and for a moment, he actually wondered if Tails could see him, for his blue eyes were looking right at him, right into his own eyes.

"...I will..." he whispered, sobbing and whimpering quietly. "I will...I will...I promise...I love you too, bro. I love you too..." Tails began sobbing again, and he sobbed as well, the two brothers spending one last time in heartbreak before they would depart forever. Tails looked up again, and again he wondered if Tails really could see him.

"Don't forget me," he whispered, and the kitsune seemed to hold his breath. "Don't forget me, Tails...We'll meet again someday...I promise we will...But not soon...Please not soon..." The kitsune said nothing, then blinked, his tears falling from his eyes and striking the ground. His blue eyes flew to the blue body beneath him, and he nodded.

"Never...I could never forget you..." He sobbed quietly. "We will meet again...We will."

With that said, green eyes blinked slowly, and he spoke one last time, one last time before removing his hand and letting go of the kitsune for the last time.

"Tails...I'm sorry...I love you, lil bro...I'm sorry, Tails..."

Just as he removed his hand from the kitsune chest, Tails sniffed quietly, his voice breaking as he spoke one final time to him as he floated away.

"I love you too...Don't be sorry...Please..." He sobbed a final time. "Don't leave...please..."

But he was already gone, his eyes closed for the last time, and with a flash of white light in the realm of the world he was in, he was gone, the last words from Tails ringing in his ears for the last final milliseconds he would ever remember.

"See you later, Sonic...I'll see you later..."

**End of Chapter**


End file.
